Bassinets are articles of furniture in the nature of a small infant bed that traditionally includes a permanently affixed hood along one side. Because bassinets are typically used by infants, many parents expend great sums of money to ensure their bassinet is as attractive as possible. To this end, many parents will surround a bassinet with an outside covering which usually includes a skirt portion and a hood portion. Although these additions may increase the overall aesthetics of the device, the additional materials make it difficult for a parent to relocate or otherwise move the bassinet.
In addition to the above, traditional bassinets are designed to sway either back and forth, or from side to side, in order to lull the baby to sleep. To accomplish this goal, the bottom portion of these bassinet legs are curved, which allows the entire article (frame and all) to sway from side to side. Although this feature does allow the desired movement, there are there are numerous reported incidents of bassinets tipping over with a child inside. For this reason, other traditional bassinets are known which incorporate springs and other such hardware to move the bassinet. However, these devices are not favored by parents, as the components create a pinch point which can harm an unsuspecting toddler. Accordingly, the safety concerns of the rocking feature may, in many cases, outweigh the benefits of the bassinet entirely.
In addition to the above, there are many secondary items such as sound machines, vibrating pads, heating blankets, and the like, which are often utilized in conjunction with a bassinet. While useful in their own rights, the inclusion of these articles within the delicate confines of the bassinet often results in a plurality power cords jutting out and away from the bassinet body. These items can create a choking or electrocution risk to a sleeping infant. Moreover, the inclusion of these items can affect the center-of-gravity of the bassinet, thereby causing the bassinet to become top heavy and increasing the likelihood of causing the same to fall over, as described above.
Accordingly, there remains a need for a bassinet apparatus having a design that is capable of blending an ultra-safe modern form with the functionality of integrated components, and which does not suffer from the drawbacks of the above described articles.